Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur begin celebration of 200th anniversary

Published: 2004-02-25

BELMONT, Calif. (CNS) -- The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur opened a yearlong celebration of the congregation's 200th anniversary with a special Mass in the chapel at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont in early February. "There are myriad stories to tell about our history but the most extraordinary thing that can be said about our past is our present," Sister Camilla Burns, congregational leader, told the approximately 400 guests at the Belmont Mass Feb. 1. At the same time on the East Coast, nearly 1,000 friends and supporters of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur gathered at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore to mark the anniversary of the congregation's founding on Feb. 2, 1804, in Amiens, France, by St. Julie Billiart. Auxiliary Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Baltimore, a former student of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, concelebrated the Mass with retired Archbishop William D. Borders and retired Auxiliary Bishop William C. Newman.

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